The South African Rugby Union (SARU) on Wednesday commended the Leopards Rugby Union (LRU) for taking a zero tolerance approach after a recent incident of referee abuse in a club match.
Hennie van den Heever, a coach of the Vaal Reefs Rugby Club’s second team, was suspended for life from all forms of rugby by the LRU following a disciplinary hearing where he was found guilty of transgressing Regulation 20.4 (b) of the International Rugby Board.
sarugby
This happened after he assaulted a referee, Godwil Marobe, at a league match between Vaal Reefs and Klerksdorp Askari Rugby Club on 22 March 2014 at Oppenheimer Stadium in Orkney.
Furthermore, Vaal Reefs was fined by R5,000 because Van den Heever’s BokSmart accreditation was outdated. Both the coach and the club have the right to appeal these decicions.
“We have been calling for a tough approach to referee abuse and this incident at the Leopards, and the way in which the union dealt with the matter, underlines our message,” said SARU CEO Jurie Roux.
“Two years ago our president, Mr Oregan Hoskins, wrote to all 14 provincial unions and reiterated that players and coaches found guilty of assaulting referees should expect to be banned from the game for life.
“We urged the unions’ disciplinary committees to take the strongest possible action against any individuals under their jurisdiction who physically or verbally abused match officials. This message has now been properly underlined by the Leopards and we commend them on taking such a tough stance.
“Although attacks on match officials, either physically or verbally, are rare, we need to stamp it out completely. Such actions will not be tolerated in South African rugby. People need to be banned and they need to be banned for life.”
Roux also commended the Leopards for imposing a fine on the club for not adhering to the minimum requirements in terms of the BokSmart National Rugby Safety Programme.
“We are serious about BokSmart and a lot of very hard work goes into the programme to make the game safer for all involved at all levels,” said Roux.
“This serves as a reminder to all of us on the importance of BokSmart in South African rugby and that it’s vitally important to keep up to date with the certification.”
Not related to this but still about officiating, sorry don’t have to put up article right now: see that Ulster’s Jared Payne has been given a two week ban by judicial officer for ‘running into’ Saracens’ Alex Goode while in the air during their Heineken Cup quarter final the past weekend. Payne was red carded during the game and Goode left the field injured, judge labelled it “a reckless act at the lower end of the scale” and he also got time reduced due to good history.
This ban on the club coach seems to be a step in the right direction, as much as we are getting more and more frustrated with referees we can’t have them being assaulted. It says the coach assaulted the ref although in the quote Roux talks about physical and verbal assault so not sure what really happened in this case.
@ Bullscot:
first line meant to be sorry don’t have time to put up article right now
Absolutely spot on to ban the prat for life.
HOWEVER, given the photograph that accompanies the heading, I would have to ask what will happen to the character in the photo’ should he be found guilty of the financial mismanagement charges that he is currently under investigation for?
Of course, those allegations have to first be thoroughly investigated, which means that somebody has to first find which mat they have been well and truly swept under.
IMHO, SARU have too many double standards in relation to who you are, and the transgression that you have committed.
I suppose that Mr Roux could always go into politics with the ruling party should he ever be found guily of any offence.
His embezzling skills would be well put to use in their structures. He would in all likelihood have to relocate to KZN though.
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